Apparently, that's because the upstart provides quality health care at affordable prices, which is unconsionable.
ZoomCare started in 2006 by putting on-demand neighborhood health clinics throughout Portland. Today, it has 21 clinics in the Portland metropolitan area and Salem and six in Seattle.
Appointments start on time—in fact, if patients are more than five minutes late, they have to reschedule. Exam rooms have flat-screen TVs on the wall showing patients their medical history, diagnosis and treatment plan. But don’t expect to see a doctor: Most examinations are conducted by a nurse practitioner.
In 2014, ZoomCare announced that it would be getting into the insurance business. Last May, it rebranded itself as Zoom+, and announced plans for surgery, mental health services, fitness coaching, parenting specialists, “brain training” and dental cleaning.
That's when they got into trouble with Oregon authorities, because they were providing health care - and now insurance - at low prices. They even get you in on the day that you call (or use the app to make an appointment at a nearby location). That simply Will Not Do:
In a dispute that has few precedents in Oregon, the state insurance division argued that Zoom+’s proposed rates were too low and forced the company to increase them.
You can't just approach health care from a different perspective, keeping costs low, and expect to get away with it in Oregon! But if you've been to, say, Kaiser's east and west facilities (or St. Vincent, or Good Sam), you see that they've invested in a lot of artsy stuff that really has nothing to do with delivering health care: waterfalls, fireplaces, meditation gardens. They may be pretty, but they also drive up costs.
Zoom has many small, no-frills facilities because their focus is upon delivering affordable healthcare at the cost of dropping the high-end aesthetics. It's an entirely different model, and one with which Oregon bureaucrats are extremely uncomfortable.
